EMPLOYMENT:Associate Director for Enrollment Analytics, University of Iowa; Founder, KR_Sqrd Research; Senior Business Insights Specialist, Kreg Enterprises; Lead Customer Success Manager for Higher Education, ACT; Assistant Director for Research, Admissions, Iowa State University.
EXPERTISE:Strategic enrollment management, student success, statistical analysis, data visualization, survey research and design, program evaluation.
KATE RALSTON is the Associate Director for Enrollment Analytics at the University of Iowa. Prior to joining the University of Iowa, Dr. Ralston lead research and assessment efforts at the Office of Admissions at Iowa State University and served as the Lead Customer Success Manager for Higher Education at ACT. Over the course of her research career, Dr. Ralston conducted applied research in both public non-profit and private consumer goods sectors helping teams leverage their data and transform it into actionable and meaningful insights.
In her current role, Dr. Ralston conducts a variety of research activities that allow informed and data-driven shaping of the University’s strategic enrollment and assist in the daily functioning of the recruitment and marketing teams. Dr. Ralston is actively involved in the work of the predictive modelling team and leads analytical efforts that help the University adapt to the rapidly changing environment while staying true to its mission and goals (e.g., transitions to test-optional admission requirement due to COVID, early at-risk identification without standardized test, discount rate and competition analysis).
Dr. Ralston holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Moscow State University (Russia), a Master of Mass Communications and a Doctorate in Sociology from Iowa State University.
Swail Landis 